Investigating different forms of rumination in obsessive-compulsive disorder and anger

Rumination has traditionally been investigated in the context of depression or sadness, but it also influences various other mental disorders or types of affect. We examined different forms of rumination in the contexts of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anger. In the context of OCD, cross-sectional observational studies were used to analyze associations of rumination as defined in the response styles theory (RST-rumination) with OCD symptoms in 140 individuals with OCD and explore psychometric properties of the Rumination on Obsessions and Compulsions Scale (ROCS), a new measure of OCD symptom rumination and mental neutralizing (two forms of rumination), in individuals with OCD (n = 99), major depressive disorder (n = 74), or no mental disorder (n = 35). In the context of anger, 120 participants were induced to ruminate about anger in an abstract and in a concrete form in randomly allocated order, with anger, negative and positive affect measured before and after rumination. RST-rumination was positively associated with a questionnaire but not an interview measure of OCD symptoms when controlling for depression and anxiety. For the ROCS, a one-factor solution for OCD symptom rumination and a three-factor solution for mental neutralizing emerged and we present correlations indicating convergent and discriminant validity and between-groups comparisons. Abstract and concrete rumination about anger had comparable effects on affect. Regarding OCD, RTS-rumination should be examined further and possibly included in models and treatments of OCD. The ROCS has promising psychometric properties and, following further validation, may be used in research and treatment of OCD. If future studies replicate the comparable effects of abstract and concrete rumination about anger on affect in individuals with high anger and over a longer time, theory and treatments of these forms of rumination may possibly need to be amended.